Erin Go Bragh

When I was in elementary school all the kids used to taunt me with this saying, like it was something dirty. I'm proud of my name and I now know that Erin Go Bragh means "Ireland Forever". I'm not Irish but with the name Erin (which means girl from Ireland or just Ireland) I kind of need to show some enthusiasm. Below is a picture of the front of my official St. Patrick's Day shirt. I'll be wearing it today after work.

I hope everyone has found a small or big way to celebrate this wonderful day, Irish or not. Maybe you had green eggs or pancakes for breakfast, a steak and Guinness pie for lunch or plan to have Irish soda bread with your corned beef and cabbage for dinner. I decided to do some random research about Ireland; mainly actors and writers born there and movies filmed there. Some noticible actors include Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Kenneth Branagh, Stuart Townsend and Daniel Day Lewis. Authors include Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Bram Stoker. If you have not read Stoker's Dracula you must put it on your 'to do' list. It is a beautifully written tale. Some great books written by Maeve Binchy and Marian Keyes take place in Ireland.

The Matchmaker starring Janeane Garofalo was filmed in Ballinagra. It is a very funny movie and I recommend watching it today. The Quiet Man, PS I Love You, and Laws of Attraction also take place or have scenes in Ireland. Ella Enchanted, The Princess Bride, and Braveheart (I know, shocking) were all filmed or had scenes filmed in Ireland. Ballykissangel is kind of an Irish soap opera that you can get through Netflix and Falling for a Dancer was an interesting Irish miniseries. Whether you plan to celebrate the day by going out or staying in remember to wear green!

Rainy Weekend

All last week we had beautiful weather. Then when Friday afternoon hits it became cold, windy and dark. It only rained on Sunday but the weather Saturday was just as miserable. There were plenty of things that needed to be done. None of which were done. I did eat at a new Mexican restaurant that was very good and I also went to see Watchmen.

The movie was terrible! It was so long and the plot was stupid. I did select the movie but choices are slim at the moment with such gems like Fired Up!, Madea Goes to Jail, and Jonas Brothers raking in the dough. Maybe if I was a fan of the graphic novel I might have found something to appreciate. Instead the only thing I appreciated was the chance to see trailers for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Terminator 4. I still haven't seen Terminator 3 but I have it at my house. I'll most likely watch it this evening since the weather is still dreary. Speaking of Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), I saw Australia last weekend. I thought it was pretty good.

Reviews

I've seen almost a dozen movies in the past few weeks. A couple have been at the cinema but others have been through my Netflix queue--a couple I even watched on my computer! Some were good some were bad and some were really bad. I saw Love & Other Disasters with Brittany Murphy. It takes place in London and what made it good was her nutty gal friend--very AbFab-esque character. Hoot was better than I expected but I still don't want to read the book. The little owls sure were cute though. I went to the cinema to see Confessions of a Shopaholic which was similar to the book and also different. Isla Fisher did a very good job. I also saw He's Just Not That Into You at the cinema. It had an amazing cast but I didn't leave the movie feeling very good about dating as a whole. Jennifer Aniston's character was great though.



I watched some girl-heroine-kicks-butt action flicks. The first was Elektra (dumb) and then there was Ultraviolet (which was Ultra-dumb). I watched two Jessica Simpson movies. I know, a waste of time right? Not exactly, plus I've been feeling pretty bad for her because of all the negative talk about her figure. Blonde Ambition started off okay but then when they vamped up her character (a.k.a. made her look slutty) it got stupid. Private Valentine started off dumb but got better after her slutty character changed into a focused army type person. In conclusion, Simpson can be pretty funny when she's not being a diva. I also watched Monsoon Wedding--it was a little difficult to follow because the characters spoke in English and Hindi (I guess) with subtitles thrown in every other sentence. It was a sweet and sad story. I saw two comic book movies---The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Punisher. Both were dumb but entertaining nonetheless. I watched The Messengers which is a horror flick (that kind of made sense!). It scared the crud out of me but I only watched it during the day.



I've started a great new young adult series. It's Percy Jackson and The Olympians. It's kind of like Harry Potter meets Greek Mythology. I finished book one last week, The Lightning Thief, and now I'm reading book two The Sea of Monsters. There are five in the series (as far as I know) plus a companion book. The fifth book is scheduled to be published in May of this year. I'm learning a lot and eager to read as often as I can.





Images found at imdb.com and amazon.com (obviously--look inside!).

Oscar

I was going to do a post about all the movies I’ve seen lately, and gush about this new series I’m reading but I’ll get to that later (in another post). Right now, I want to talk Oscars. Hugh Jackman did a fair job and he was nice to look at. Too many musical numbers though. I still prefer Steve Martin or Jon Stewart. Some time during the ceremony they always do a tribute to the members of Hollywood that passed during the previous year. And yes, I cried when Paul Newman came on the screen. For several weeks now I have been saying that I no longer find Ben Stiller funny. After watching his annoying performance in Tropic Thunder (although, everyone’s performance paled in comparison to the hilarious Robert Downey Jr.) and even more annoying performance in The Heartbreak Kid (which reminded me of his obnoxious character in Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, and Duplex) I decided to no longer see his movies. He plays the same sweet, push-over guy that gets into gross and embarrassing situations over and over. However, at the Oscars he shined for a brief moment by imitating Joaquin Phoenix in his recent dazed state. I was reminded of how much I loved Stiller in Dodgeball.



I DVR’d the whole event, thinking how cleaver I was. As I was fast-forwarded through the commercials and uninteresting categories (i.e. any category other that the top four for actors, best director and best movie) I knew I had found the one and only way to enjoy the Oscars. The thing about DVR is that it only records what is listed. The Oscars were supposed to be over after three hours. So, just as the gorgeous Kate Winslet approached the stage to accept her Oscar the recording stopped. It stopped! Next year I will be better prepared because skipping all that crap was almost as enjoyable as reading the reviews the day following the ceremony.

Sandi The Deer Slayer

So, last week my friend was out of town and I agreed to let his dog, Sandi, out at lunch to use the outdoor "facilities". When I arrived, the cable man was there (blocking the drive-way) using a huge ladder to get to some power lines just outside the fence around the property. As soon as I let Sandi out of the house the hair along the back of her neck stood up and she started growling. I assumed it was the presence of the cable man. I was wrong. She runs over to the cable man and continues to bark and act her territorial self. All of a sudden, she sprints to the back of the house toward the lake. The next thing I see is her chasing a deer around the yard. The property is fenced in (except where it meets the lake) so Sandi is chasing this caged creature along the perimeter of the property. Now, while I've got you on the edge of your seat, I'll tell you a side story. Sandi has killed a deer, all on her own, before. She chased said deer around the fence and the confused creature ran into the fence and broke its neck. Back to my story. Sandi chased the deer around the fence and the confused creature ran into the fence and broke its neck. Huh, that's the same story. Except this time I saw the whole thing. The deer just fell to the ground twitching and kicking for what seemed like an eternity (most likely 30 seconds) and then finally went still. Sandi is still barking her tail off (excuse the pun during a story like this) and going nuts. Here is a picture of the little murderess:

I know what you're thinking but apparently the deer consider her to be a real terror. So, per the weather channel we were to expect warm temperatures for the weekend. That means the dead carcass was going to get more pungent than in cooler weather. I slapped on some yellow rubber gloves (usually used to wash dishes--possible pictures to follow) and with some help, dragged the carcass off the property into some heavy brush. The next day the buzzards were a buzzing.

This is a rather morbid story and never in my life did I think I would be telling such a story but it did happen. Here's to more boring lunch breaks in the future.

Bittersweet

I know, another post about baked goods. What can I say? I'm an addict. I made a cake last week...from scratch (including the icing). It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe. It was a little difficult and rather time consuming but I'd make it again. I gave some of it to friends and I brought some to work. Oh, and I also ate way too much of it.

Bittersweet chocolate was in the icing. I think it made it a little too rich for my taste so maybe I'll try the recipe again with dark chocolate or milk chocolate. It also had coffee in the batter and the icing which is supposed to intensify the taste of the chocolate. Bittersweet could also describe the whole process--lots of work for a sweet dessert. Anyway, I was proud of myself. It didn't look half bad either.

Bodies

I went to see an exhibit in Atlanta this weekend. It was the Bodies Exhibition at Atlantic Station. First off, I've never been to Atlantic Station so that was pretty interesting. There were tons of shops and eatery spots and limited parking (of course). It was a little chilly that day but we walked around a little before and after the main event. So, the exhibit was fascinating. It truly was. Here is the link if you want to know a little about it yourself: http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/bodies.html
Rooms, and the specimens, were divided by body systems (respiratory system, nervous system, etc). There was also a fetus room which was beyond creepy but very important to see. I only have one complaint: there were too many people trying to see everything at once and no directions given in the rooms--like arrows in the aisles of parking lots. After we saw all there was to see, and then some, my group went to eat dinner; because nothing works up your appetite more that seeing preserved dead human bodies. Anyway, we ate at Pappadeaux. It was so yummy. I'll eat there any chance I get in the future.

I watched two horrible chick flicks over the weekend (Over Her Dead Body, and The Prince and Me) and one rather depressing WWII movie (The Man Who Cried). All were wasted selections in my Netflix queue. However, I did get lots of pictures on the walls in my duplex (photos will hopefully follow soon). I'm reading Triskellion by Will Peterson. I'm halfway through the book and I don't really know what's going on or if I even like it. I really hope I can see a funny movie at the cinema soon. I'm dying to see New In Town, Confessions of a Shopaholic and He's Just Not That Into You.

End Of The Affair

Once upon a time a young girl was so happy to have an Easy Bake Oven. One day she was preparing to make the most beautiful and delicate cake in her new oven. However, she forgot to remove the plastic tray used to slide the cake pan into the oven. The tray melted under the awesome strength of the cooking bulb within, thus making it impossible to use the oven. Several years later the young girl was given a Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker! Wonder of wonders!

Okay, so the young girl is me. I was watching Barefoot Contessa (recorded on my DVR!) and she was making scones. Ina made it look so easy. I thought, I'll show her easy and I got out my Girl Gourmet Christmas gift. Here are the steps that followed.

This is the cupcake mix. You just add a little water, mix, and pour into provided cupcake paper cup and then into plastic cup.

Then you place the cupcake into the steamer, pop it in the microwave for 25 seconds, remove the lid and this is what you see. It smelled very pastry-esque so I continued.

Then you load the icing (mixed in the same manner as the cake mix) and load it into this icing gun thing. You place the pre-nuked cupcake under the icing gun and push down on the lever. The cupcake spins round and round and back and forth in the slot to create a professional icing swirl design.

This is what actually happened. It oozed all the way down to the bottom chamber holder thingy. No worries. I decided to proceed yet again.

Yes, they even give you decorative sprinkles! I liberally sprinkled them on my delicate and now odd smelling cupcake. I took my highly anticipated first bite. It tasted a bit like...cardboard.

I threw it in the trash with shimmers of disappointed tears in my eyes. It was so gross, if they were a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean they would be called "bilecake" or "cardboard cup". It's such a shame because I used to love cupcakes; now I think I may be turned off of them forever, the affair is done. I think I'll leave the baking to my heroes on the Food Network. So, if you know anyone without taste buds that would be interested in receiving (no purchase necessary!) my Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker with three remaining cupcake mixes and frosting mixes be sure to send them my way. Well, better go, my stomach is starting to cramp.

New Dwelling

I've taken a few photos of my new place. I only have about 2 rooms in order but they are still not decorated.

This is my kitchen. You'll notice my cuisinart griddler on the counter top. It has quickly become one of my prize possessions. I also have a dishwasher now, hooray!!

This is yet another view of my kitchen (it's just so large).


This is my living room. I'll definitely have some art work in this room. I should be able to start planning picture placement (alliteration rules!) next week with the help of an organization book by the domestic goddess Martha Stewart. I've got a class to teach this weekend but other than that my plans are to relax and enjoy the time off. Next week will be busy so I'll store up my free time while I can.

Technology

We have a scanner at work, of which no one has received training. Usually I just tell the students, who are pretty tech-savvy these days, to have a crack at it. I decided to do the same myself today. It was fairly easy and I was even able to edit my scanned item using Adobe Photoshop on the desktop. However, when I inserted my flash drive into my desk computer it shut down. Huh. So, I rebooted and tried to open the file again. It said "no file selected" and the disk was empty. I wanted to post this cute little comic (seen below) from the newspaper. Being the information savvy librarian that I am I just went to the newspapers web edition and did a screen shot. So, technology both failed me and made a quick recovery.

I thought this was really cute and it shows the general perception of librarians: elderly, glasses, bun, "forceful" about library property. Anyhoo, work has been pretty busy. Students have been asking reference questions and I've taught a few classes this week. I'll be traveling to our Augusta campus next week so that will be another nice change.

I saw Bride Wars which I had high hopes for but fell flat in the humor department. I also saw Hellboy II and Notes on a Scandal. Both were pretty entertaining but I wouldn't really recommend either. I watched The Thief Lord last night which is based on a young adult book I read a couple years ago for my international literature for young adults. It was lame but I remember that I had a really hard time getting interested in the book. I finished the 5th book in The Last Apprentice and there will definitely be another book. Hooray! I think I'll try some non-fiction next. Unpacking is nearly complete but I'm very unmotivated at this point. The 5 boxes that needed to be unpacked last week still need to be unpacked this week. Organizing and hanging of artwork will be the last thing to happen.